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Jackson Five Friday: Stop and Taste the Pecans

Are you a stop and smell the roses kind of person? Or are you more likely to rush from place to place? For me, it depends. I want to be a nonhurried person, but more often than not I’m trying to pack too much in. I get super convicted about it, because I know the hurried path obscures hidden blessings predictably found on the more flexible and leisurely route. I try to justify myself, thinking I’ll just get A to Z done real quick and then I’ll slow down. But by the time I get to Z, items A to Y have filled right back up. I know you know just what I mean. Busyness is an American epidemic. Worth derived by checking things off is rampant, like some kind of joy-robbing plague.

Well, my mom was somehow plague-resistant. And I promise, I won’t always blog about my mom. But I do need to share this illustration. Years ago — in the early nineties — my mom and I drove from Florida to Michigan, just the two of us. We headed out in my silver Ford Tempo sometime in the morning. Our plan was to take turns and drive straight through. I drove the first leg, and the second and the third. We stopped repeatedly for breakfast, for lunch, for salty warm roasted pecans. I don’t remember what we ate other than those pecans. They were divine. We’ve talked about those pecans probably a hundred times since then. We never could find any that compared.

Finally as it got dark I was ready to take a break from driving. My mom pulled onto the Interstate, as I pulled the lever on my seat, leaning back, ready to close my eyes for a bit. But then I looked over and she had her nose about an inch from the windshield.

“Mom!” I said, alarmed. “Can you even see?”

She made sort of an “aww, shucks” cluck with her mouth, and then, calmly admitted, “Not really.”

It was hysterical! Needless to say, I drove the rest of the way and soon thereafter my mom got glasses. But oh we had a ball! And my biggest takeaway was that you should always, always, always stop and taste the pecans. I figure with the biggest travel days of the year approaching, it’s a good reminder. More than anyone, I need this verse tattooed on my arm.

“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭90:12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Happy Thanksgiving to all and I hope you find the tastiest, saltiest pecans life has to offer.
With Love,